One Moment
by PharaohsThrone
Summary: A lot of things can happen in one moment, which is something that Yusei Fudo learns the hard way. The question is, can Atem forgive him? (Synchroshipping)


**One Moment - 1**

Bright, luminescent stars stretched across a clear and dark sky, not one single cloud in sight. It was beautiful and peaceful as the three teens walked together, enjoying the cool night air. It was fairly late, and the trio were making their way back from a friend's house, after a movie marathon that had left them with dreary eyes and heavy heads. Although it was a Friday, they were quite surprised at how quiet the town seemed, usually there would be the occasional holler from someone nearby who had clearly had too much to drink as a group of rowdy teens stumbled home after a long night out. Then again, it probably wasn't quite late enough for that, but as they walked one of them still noticed an odd feeling hanging in the air.

The man was pulled out of his thoughts when a hand encircled his own, and he looked over at the person walking beside him, who had a concerned look in his eyes. "Everything alright?" Yusei asked, noting the man's sudden silence.

Atem nodded and gave the other man a small smile, "Yes, just thinking is all," he reassured his boyfriend. Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Yusei returned the smile just as the last member of their group jumped between them.

"Stop it with the cuteness already!" Mana interrupted, barging between their joined hands and forcing them apart in the process, "You can do that when we get to Atem's place." The man in question simply chuckled at his best friend, before sharing a look with Yusei over the girl's head.

"Let me guess," Yusei stated, slinging an arm over Mana's shoulder, "You still have enough energy to run all the way there from here."

Mana laughed, messing up Yusei's hair. "Of course! Unlike you lazy sods who couldn't run 50 meters without needing a break."

Atem gave her a look of mock horror, "We aren't lazy!"

She jumped in front of them and turned around, stopping them in their tracks as they looked down at her, "Then prove it," she challenged, grinning.

"Fine then," Yusei stepped forwards, "I'll race you back to the house," he suggested, a smug smirk on his face. Mana's eyes lit up, she was always up for a challenge.

"You're on!" she beamed, "Last one has to buy tomorrow's breakfast!" Yusei nodded in agreement and they both turned to Atem. "On your signal," Mana said with a nod.

Atem chuckled and shook his head at the both of them, before saying, "Go."

Instantly both of them took off in front of him, speeding down the footpath towards Atem's residence. He couldn't help but laugh, those two were quite entertaining together. He was very glad for it, too. He had only introduced Yusei to his best friend a week ago, and had been afraid that they wouldn't get along, but it seemed that was far from the case. He and Yusei hadn't been dating for very long, a month, maybe? He hadn't exactly been counting. As soon as they had met they clicked instantly, able to talk about anything and everything with each other, it was if someone just flicked a switch and they were able to get along.

Atem smiled at the thought as his two friends disappeared from sight, it hadn't taken very long for their initial spark to evolve into something bigger. He still remembered the day so clearly, when Yusei had sheepishly admitted his attraction towards him, and Atem announced how adorable it was. A few dates later and here they were, with Yusei and Mana getting along better than Atem had ever imagined. He would have run to keep up with them, but he wasn't really feeling up to it at this time of night, and with a chuckle he realised that he was the only one who would be able to let them into the house anyway. He decided to walk a little faster for their sake, though he was sure that once Yusei and Mana finished their race the former would come running back asking for his house keys. Atem sighed in content and looked up at the starts, it was a beautiful night. He didn't think anything could ruin his good mood.

Now only 50 meters away from Atem's residence, Yusei had fallen back, with Mana taking the lead. Atem was right, she did have way too much energy. Yusei jogged behind her as she rounded the corner and stopped at Atem's front door, puffing with a huge grin on her face. She turned to Yusei who was slowly walking over now, after placing her hand on the door as if to finalize his defeat.

"Looks like," she paused to take another breath, "You'll be paying for breakfast," she said with a laugh. Yusei stopped where he was, about 30 meters away from her, hunching over for a second to regain his breath. He nodded his agreement, silently commending her for the win. He was quite fit, but having a sprinting race at this time of night probably wasn't the best course of action. Yusei chuckled as he tried to slow his breathing once again, and stood up straight once more. As he started to move over to where Mana was at the front door, a moving shadow by one of the windows caught his eye. He thought it was just the bushes moving in the breeze, but there barely was any. He narrowed his eyes into the darkness and finally caught sight of a figure, just as they darted out of the bushes, holding a firearm and pointing it straight at Mana.

Atem was only just around the corner from his residence now, and was wondering why Mana hadn't run back asking for the keys yet. Maybe she'd really used up all her energy once. He shrugged to himself, before he heard Yusei call out Mana's name. What surprised Atem however, was that it sounded quite alarmed. The commotion caused Atem to snap out of his thoughts and start up at a run, rounding the corner to see what the problem was. What his eyes caught sigh of however was enough to make his stomach drop to his ankles. Someone dressed fully in black was standing across from Mana, a gun pointed straight at her as she stood there with wide, horror filled eyes. The gunman had only just noticed Yusei running up behind him, and was now waving the gun around madly, appearing to be in a sort of panic. This didn't stop Yusei however, and as Atem sprinted towards them, Yusei jumped on the man, grappling with him to try and disarm him, and Mana seemed to be frozen in her place, too shocked to make herself move.

Atem could see the gunman struggling with Yusei, and his finger was fighting for the trigger. Atem's eyes widened in panic as he sprinted towards them, "Yusei, wait!" he screamed.

_BANG._

With an ear piercing cry, Mana fell to the ground.

Yusei stared wide eyed at his friend, his mouth hanging open in horror. With a grunt, the assailant pulled himself out of Yusei's grasp, and darted into the darkness, cursing as he went. Yusei could do nothing but watch in terror as Atem cried out Mana's name, sinking to his knees beside her. Finally able to pull himself out of his frozen state, Yusei scrambled for his phone, almost dropping it in the process with his frantic fingers. He wasn't sure how, but he managed to get out enough coherent words to call an ambulance, and as he shut his phone, a cold feeling of dread sunk into him as he watched Atem lean over his best friend, tears spilling from his eyes and onto her chest. Yusei could see the image in his head, replaying the scene from only a few moments ago as if he were reliving them. He was struggling with the man, trying to grab the gun, and because of that the man had pulled the trigger. One moment of foolish actions, and it was over. This was all his fault. It took everything he had not to fall to his knees where he was.

Instead, Yusei took a hesitant step towards the two, audibly gulping as he did so, and when he spoke, his voice was weak and strained. "Atem-"

"Leave."

The single word had come out strong and direct, despite the obvious giveaway that the other man was crying. He'd never heard Atem sound so broken, and it pulled at his heartstrings. He'd never expected this kind of response, however, and his mind became a swirl of words that he could reply with, but couldn't bring himself to voice any of them.

"W-what?" Yusei managed, looking down at Atem with wide, hurt filled eyes.

Tears were still falling from Atem's eyes as he held Mana in his arms, the only sound coming from her a broken attempt at breathing. He hadn't turned to look at Yusei, and that didn't change as his anger suddenly surfaced. "I said go!" he roared, closing his eyes so he couldn't see Yusei's broken expression, even from the corner of his eye. The taller man stood there for a moment, before he nodded silently and complied, trying to fend off the burning sensation in his throat, he turned and ran.

* * *

So I was listening to a whole bunch of sad songs and suddenly had the urge to write a heartbreaking story, so here you go! Don't worry, I can't write tragedy stuff, so there will be a happy ending :) Also, this is my first attempt at Synchroshipping because it's really grown on me recently. Anyway, there should only be one more part to this story, so enjoy!

PharaohsThrone :)


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